See, when I was down and out…and thought I had nothing…I did have something

I had a God who loved me even though I didn’t spend much time thinking about him loving me

“For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance…

Think about your list…when I look at my list, I see a bunch of things…

And most of those things I actually get more of the older I get…

So, what are we supposed to do with all of our abundance?

Surely The Bible gives us some guidance…

In Genesis 41, Joseph, who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, had saved enough to bail his brothers out in the times of a great drought

2 Chronicles 31:5 tells us to give of the abundance of the first fruits

Proverbs 21:5 begins “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance…”

And then there is this… “Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV)

Abundance is step one of God’s plan…it is supposed to happen…it is no accident

We just need to get out of God’s way

Step 2 is outlined here… “but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 2 Corinthians 8:13b-14 (NRSV)